FBI: Texas cell of Mexican drug cartel trains on own ranch

FBI: Texas drug cell trains on own ranch

Suspects identified as belonging to Los Zetas are presented to the media after an arrest in last month in Mexico City.

Suspects identified as belonging to Los Zetas are presented to the media after an arrest in last month in Mexico City.

Photo: Miguel Tovar, AP

Photo: Miguel Tovar, AP

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Suspects identified as belonging to Los Zetas are presented to the media after an arrest in last month in Mexico City.

Suspects identified as belonging to Los Zetas are presented to the media after an arrest in last month in Mexico City.

Photo: Miguel Tovar, AP

FBI: Texas cell of Mexican drug cartel trains on own ranch

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The FBI is advising law enforcement officers across the country that a Texas cell of Los Zetas — an increasingly powerful arm of the Mexican Gulf Cartel drug trafficking syndicate — has acquired a secluded ranch where it trains its members to “neutralize” competitors in the United States.

In order to ensure its share of the lucrative illegal drug trade, the cartel’s members reportedly are operating north of the border to collect debts and spy on competitors. They have also protected cocaine and heroin shipments that were bound for Houston, where they were repackaged and shipped on to Alabama, Delaware, Georgia and Michigan, according to the FBI.

The information, which was disseminated Monday to state, local and federal agencies, does not provide specifics, such as the location of the ranch, but includes a notation that the information came from reliable FBI contacts.

Trainees are reportedly taught about home invasions, firearms and ways to run vehicles off the road in order to kidnap occupants who owe drug debts.

The Zetas have achieved almost mythical status in Mexico, as the small band of military deserters has become a managing partner for the Gulf Cartel, terrorizing rivals with beheadings, torture and mass killings.

They are said to have a presence in large swaths of Mexico and are often described as being the most ruthless gangsters in Mexico’s underworld.

Not much U.S. bloodshed

The bulletin continues that although the Zetas establishing cells in Texas and other parts of the United States increases the likelihood of clashes with U.S.-based competitors, there hasn’t been much bloodshed on U.S. soil, an indication the gangsters realize violence here would be bad for business.

The cartel also maintains a network of boats and rafts along the Rio Grande to help move drugs and assassins northward into the United States as well as covertly move kidnap victims southward back into Mexico, the bulletin continues.

It notes that the Zetas have learned the kidnapping is a more effective way to collect debts and control territory.

In April, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported that the Zetas had warned their traffickers that if they abandoned loads when confronted by U.S. law enforcement, they would be subject to execution by the cartel.

Lack of hard evidence

Lt. Dan Webb, of the Texas Department of Public Safety’s narcotics division for the Houston regional office, said Zetas do operate in Houston and other parts of Texas, but they try to limit their time on U.S. soil in order to avoid being arrested by authorities who are far less corrupt than in Mexico.

As for whether the organization has a training ranch in Texas, Webb said there have long been rumors, but he is not aware of hard evidence.

“It very well could be true, but as far as us having a location for the ranch, it is all conjecture,” said Webb, who believes it is more likely they train in Mexico than Texas. “If we had any hard evidence, we’d be all over it.”

He said a lot of drug activity by U.S. gangs, such as the Texas Syndicate or the Mexican Mafia, is mistakenly attributed to Zetas.

“We are trying to keep them over in Mexico and discourage them from coming to America in any form or fashion,” he said.

Hidalgo County Sheriff Guadalupe “Lupe” Trevino said drug-trafficking-related violence has been going on along the border for decades and that while he hadn’t seen the FBI bulletin yet, it doesn’t surprise him.

“This is nothing new to us,” he said. “It is new to the rest of the country because of horrific events in the Republic of Mexico,” referring to increased media attention.

“South Texas used to be the back door to the United States,” he added. “Now we are the front door.”